No one gets into their car on a typical day and anticipates that they might not arrive safely at their destination, yet hundreds of thousands of car accidents occur in Illinois every year, including those resulting in serious injuries or fatalities.
All Illinois drivers have a legal duty of reasonable care when behind the wheel, including the duty to follow traffic laws and avoid distractions, but these remain the most common causes of Illinois car accidents.
In addition to knowing and complying with the state’s traffic laws, it’s crucial to have a basic understanding of Illinois’ car accident laws. Reach out to the Chicago auto accident attorney at Smith LaCien if you’ve been injured in a collision.
Unlike the handful of U.S. states with no-fault car accident laws that require accident victims to file claims against their own personal injury protection policies, in Illinois, it matters who is responsible for an accident. Illinois operates under a modified comparative negligence system for car accidents under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, which states the following:
“The plaintiff shall be barred from recovering damages if the trier of fact finds that the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is more than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for which recovery is sought.”
Under this system, even a car accident victim who is partly responsible for their accident can recover compensation as long as they are less than 50% at fault, but the insurance company subtracts the victim’s percentage of fault from the amount they pay on the claim.
Illnois’ fault-based car accident laws allow a car accident victim to recover compensation for their damages, like medical expenses, lost wages, pain, and suffering from the at-fault parties insurance.
Under the modified comparative negligence system, even an accident victim who is partly responsible for the accident can still recover a portion of their damages as long as they are less than 50% at fault, but the insurance company subtracts their percentage of fault from what they pay on the claim. Consider the following example:
Suppose one driver has a T-bone collision with another driver in an intersection because they ran through a light that had just turned red. It would seem that the driver who ran the red light is 100% at fault. But what if the evidence later shows that the driver in the intersection was speeding and didn’t have their headlights on in the rain?
In this example, the insurance company of the driver who ran the red light could assign the driver without their lights on 30% fault for the accident. If that driver’s damages equal $100,000, the insurance company can reduce the payout on the claim to $70,000.
Illinois, under 625 ILCS 5/11-402, requires all drivers involved in a car accident to immediately stop at the accident scene, or as close as possible, and remain at the scene until police clear them to leave, either by ambulance or by arranging transportation after fulfilling their duties, including answering police questions about how the accident happened.
The police generate an accident report at the scene of the accident, but whether or not the police come to the accident scene, an involved driver must report an accident to the Illinois Department of Transportation within ten days of the accident date if the crash caused any injury, death, or $1,500 or more in property damage.
Any able-bodied person at the scene of an Illinois car accident must give reasonable first aid to injury victims, call for help, and remain present until cleared to leave by the police.
Causing a car accident in Illinois leaves you liable for property damage costs and personal injury expenses under the state’s fault-based accident law, but leaving the scene of a car accident in Illinois escalates the matter into criminality. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-402, the law states the following:
“Any person failing to comply with this Section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.”
In addition, leaving the scene of an accident with fatalities can result in class 2 felony charges, such as vehicular manslaughter.
Because Illinois is a fault-based car accident state, drivers must carry at least the minimum auto insurance coverage. In Illinois, all registered vehicle owners must have the following minimum required insurance coverage:
Illinois’ minimum insurance policies also include matching amounts for uninsured motorist coverage, but a policyholder may decline the coverage in writing.
After an accident, an involved driver must report the accident to their insurance company. If they wish to file a claim for compensation, they must file against the driver who caused the accident.
If you suffer serious injuries as well as property damage in an Illinois car accident, the state’s modified comparative negligence laws allow you to recover compensation from the at-fault party’s insurance for damages, including the following:
Wrongful death compensation is available to the family members of a fatally injured accident victim.
Car accident claims with medical expenses fall under the category of personal injury claims in Illinois. This means there is a time limit, or statute of limitations, for filing a claim. Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, a car accident victim has up to two years from the date of the accident to file a claim in most cases.
The court may extend the time limit if an accident victim discovers an injury later, in which case the time limit begins on the date of the discovery (the Discovery Rule).
If a victim is incapacitated for a significant time after an accident, the statute of limitations begins on the date they recover their cognitive functions. Finally, minors who suffer injuries in car accidents have up to two years after their 18th birthday.
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